5/23/00

Contacts:
X.B. Yang, Plant Pathology, (515) 294-8826
Brian Meyer, Agriculture Communications, (515) 294-0706

*MEDIA ADVISORY*

ISU PLANT PATHOLOGIST TO SPEAK ON CLIMATE CHANGE ON CAPITOL HILL

On Thursday, May 25, Iowa State University plant pathologist X.B. Yang will report on the effects of global warming on plant diseases and pests at a Congressional briefing in Washington, D.C.

The briefing, which also will include scientists from Harvard University, Columbia University and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, will detail how climate change may affect U.S. agriculture. It will be held in 124 Senate Dirksen Building, 2 p.m. Eastern time.

The briefing coincides with the release of a report by the researchers, "Climate Change and U.S. Agriculture: The Impacts of Warming and Extreme Weather Events on Productivity, Plant Diseases and Pests." It is the first study to analyze how climate has affected American agriculture from 1950 to the present. It also examines how future climate change may affect yields, the incidence of weeds, plant diseases and pests, and economic costs of production.

Yang leaves for Washington on Wednesday morning, May 24. He will be back in his office on Friday afternoon, May 26. For an executive summary of the report, contact Brian Meyer, ISU Agriculture Communications, (515) 294-0706, or e-mail bmeyer@iastate.edu.

News Releases Agriculture in Action Ag Online Communications Skills Home